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Nobel Peace Prize honours all who toil in the shadows for a safer world: Editorial

Many had hoped that Malala Yousafzai would win this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. But the world should cherish those who work for peace from the shadows, every bit as much as its superstars.

Members of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in Damascus Friday, learn they have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (POOL / REUTERS)

Sun., Oct. 13, 2013

Malala Yousafzai blazed like a comet into the hearts of people all over the world with her idealism, her courageous refusal to be cowed into silence by Pakistan’s murderous Taliban, and her compelling demand for a world where every girl has the right to speak her mind and get an education. Many would have cheered had she won the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize this past week, including this newspaper.

But others, too, work for a better and safer world. For every charismatic, high-profile Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and Aung San Suu Kyi there are countless others who plug away in the shadows advancing peace, disarmament and humanitarian causes.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s surprise decision on Friday to recognize the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons pays tribute to those lesser-known figures. It is a reminder that the idealistic moilers and toilers for peace and weapons control are worth celebrating, as much as the superstars. That is the implicit message in this year’s award, and it is a worthy one.

Canada is a major supporter of the OPCW, recognizing that its work is more urgently needed today than at any time in the past two decades. Malala herself graciously praised the agency’s effectiveness.

The vicious war in Syria that has left 110,000 dead is just one of a dozen major conflicts that the United Nations reports have forced 45 million people to flee their homes. More are on the run today than at any time since 1994. Half are from Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq and Sudan. Reversing the recent rise in such conflicts, as the UN is struggling to do, is a global priority.

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Granted, Syria’s war hasn’t been fought mainly with chemical weapons, and will not easily be wound down. But cutting back on the Cold War-era nuclear, chemical and conventional weapons with which the world remains awash is a commendable goal in its own right. They pose a disproportionate threat, can fall into the wrong hands and feed conflicts.

Based at The Hague, the OPCW has been a key player in the push to contain such weapons. Recently its work in Syria has drawn attention. Canadian Scott Cairns and other OPCW experts have braved sniper fire to destroy weapons. But the agency has also verified the destruction of weapons in Iraq, Libya and elsewhere.

Since it was set up in 1997 to enforce the global Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW has seen 80 per cent of global stockpiles under its purview eliminated, including most American and Russian weapons. That’s nearly 60,000 metric tons of the murderous chemicals that snuffed out so many lives in Syria. On the agency’s watch the balance has tipped against these ghastly weapons.

This award is in the long tradition of giving the peace prize to organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (2005), the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (1997), the Pugwash Conferences (1995) and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (1985), for their work promoting peace and disarmament. The United Nations itself was so honoured (2001), and so were UN peacekeepers (1988).

It is slow, grinding, largely anonymous work, this push to cut nuclear arsenals, to rid the world of chemical weapons and landmines, and to curtail the traffic in conventional weapons. There is no glamour in it, and very little public acclaim. But it is idealistic work, with an eye to making the world a safer place for Malala, for everyone. The Nobel Peace Prize rightly honours that.

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